“Certainly, people could lie about their feeling goose bumps to create a false impression," Prof Richard Smith, from the University of Kentucky, told The Daily Telegraph.

"But often, they can use the fact of their, natural, un-faked feeling of goose bumps in reaction to someone as a way of communication a special reaction."

“People don't usually control the reaction in themselves so it suggests strongly that one has had an uncontrolled, positive and special reaction."

Prof Smith, who led a team from several other universities, added: "We tend to think of goose bumps as usually resulting from cold or fear. But we suggest that goose bumps may often be a blend of fear, surprise and submission in reaction to a remarkable action performed by another person.

"The emotion of awe may be closest emotion label for this kind of experience."

In their study, the team asked volunteers from American colleges to keep a journal over a month, where they wrote down each description of when they experienced goose bumps.

While “almost everyone” reported at least one experience the average was about two or three a week, they found.

A reaction to the cold was the “dominant cause”. The next most frequent cause was awe, often in response to “something special” such as an outstanding performance.

Other reactions came come from an "aesthetic" reaction such as listening to music or “witnessing an extraordinary object, often created by another person”.

Prof Smith, from the university's psychology department, said the study had some surprising conclusions including that there were “very few cases of goose bumps coming from one's own actions”.